Bryce Harper is the Andrew Luck of Fantasy Baseball
Oct 7, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper (34) celebrates with catcher Wilson Ramos (40) after hitting a solo home run against the San Francisco Giants in the 7th inning during game four of the 2014 NLDS baseball playoff game at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
We all have known about super phenom Bryce Harper for years now, and he is at the point in his career where he is drafted as an elite player. However, his statistics have not reached his ADP partially due to injury and possibly due to the thought that some people believe Harper will automatically be an impact stud almost immediately upon arrival like Mike Trout.
However, everyone is well aware of Bryce Harper’s talent, high floor, and even higher ceiling, so he continues to be drafted very highly even though his career numbers to date are not indicative at all of being worthy of a high draft pick. That being said, Harper will make the Washington Nationals and his fantasy owners everywhere ecstatic when he truly breaks out and becomes a superstar in his own right.
The unbelievable potential makes Bryce Harper like Andrew Luck in a way. Both players are viewed as too good to fail and they will probably be transcendent athletes. I am sure many of you also play fantasy football and have realized that people have been expecting Luck to take the next step ever since his rookie year. In 2014, Luck is the highest scoring player in fantasy football, and his fantasy owners are probably doing very well this season.
Like Andrew Luck, Harper will have a season probably in the near future where he enters the top tier of fantasy baseball players. Unfortunately, Harper is already being drafted very highly, so even if he becomes a top 10 fantasy baseball player, then he will not provide the same value that Andrew Luck did this year in fantasy football.
Andrew Luck was also drafted a little too highly in his first two seasons in the NFL, but he was generally a third to sixth round pick in 2014 and has played like a first-rounder. Bryce Harper also could be a first-round player in the near future, but the problem is that he is already being drafted as a second or third rounder. There is definitely potential value in drafting Bryce Harper, but it is more risk than reward at this point.
I really think that we see Bryce Harper turn the corner in 2015 if he stays healthy. He could easily be a top 25 fantasy player or better, but you are paying for a breakout in non-keeper leagues. I would hesitate to draft the phenom in a non-keeper unless he fell out of the first 30 picks.